CVE-2014-3436
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedSymantec Encryption Desktop 10.3.x before 10.3.2 MP3, and Symantec PGP Desktop 10.0.x through 10.2.x, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU and memory consumption) via a crafted encrypted e-mail message that decompresses to a larger size.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceSymantec Encryption Desktop and PGP Desktop contain a denial of service vulnerability in the email decryption component. A crafted encrypted email message contains highly compressed data (decompression bomb) that expands to an excessively large size when processed, causing CPU and memory exhaustion.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 10.0.0= 10.0.1= 10.0.2= 10.0.3= 10.1.0= 10.1.1= 10.1.2= 10.2.0= 10.2.1= 10.2.2= 10.3.0= 10.3.1= 10.3.2CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the installed product nameCheck the installed software list or program files directory for 'Symantec PGP Desktop' or 'Symantec Encryption Desktop'Affected if Either product is present on the system
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Determine the installed versionUse the system's installed programs list, about dialog within the application, or check the program version property. Common locations include the Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall or the application's Help > About sectionAffected if The version matches any of: 10.0.0, 10.0.1, 10.0.2, 10.0.3, 10.1.0, 10.1.1, 10.1.2, 10.2.0, 10.2.1, 10.2.2 (PGP Desktop) or 10.3.0, 10.3.1, 10.3.2 (Encryption Desktop)
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Verify email decryption functionalityConfirm that the email decryption component is enabled or in use. This is typically active if the software is configured to handle encrypted email (PGP/MIME, S/MIME) or if plugin extensions for email clients (Outlook, Thunderbird) are installedAffected if Email decryption features are active or configured on the system
A system is affected if it runs any version of Symantec PGP Desktop 10.0.0-10.2.2 or Symantec Encryption Desktop 10.3.0-10.3.2 with the email decryption component enabled.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade to Symantec Encryption Desktop 10.3.2 MP3 or later, or Symantec PGP Desktop 10.3 or later. Consider implementing email attachment size limits or content filtering as an additional control.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-3436 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-3436 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data